Utterly Pathetic Lovesick
by CatherineDuchessofVineyard
Summary: They said that distance makes the heart grow fonder.


**Disclaimer:** I don't own Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir.

 **Author's Note:** I hope you all enjoy this another oneshot. Thank you!

 **Utterly Pathetic Lovesick**

For some reasons, there was an unspoken agreement between them that they would always meet in Trocadéro. He would silently accompany here with a few conversation between them as Marinette drew new designs for her future - hopefully - clothing line, every Saturday afternoon. No one can really remember how did it happen, just it started roughly six months ago. It was a calming factor for the both of them especially for Adrien, even going as far as making his Saturday afternoon free from his hectic schedule. They didn't tell anyone, even with their best friends, it was like a silent promise that this rendezvous would be kept just between the two of them.

More often than not, she would be the first one there, sitting on the stair facing Tour Eiffel; pink sketchpad on her lap and tongue sticking out on the side of her mouth in concentration. Then, he would come by minutes later, settling down beside her in silence, and waiting for her to acknowledge his presence that usually happens later than he would like to admit to. However, weeks turned to months of keeping her company that he labeled the usual silence between them as comforting. He was anticipating the moment she will notice him and strike a conversation with him. He was glad that even with her head bowed and attention on her designs, she would still answer him or try to keep the conversation between them open. At first, she was still the ever so shy and flustered Marinette he'd come to know in his class but he was quite happy when he observed that it was becoming less and less until she can finally converse to him properly. It always eluded him why she stuttered so much in the first place. All in all it became a gratifying pace for him.

It was a nice and welcoming to have a one normal routine outside his student/model status - it came with a price, yes - double schedule on Sundays and sometimes on the weekdays just to have his strict father agree on having his Saturday afternoon clear. It was still a wonder to him how his usually stoic father, who refuses his very own son to go outside, concur with his wishes without so much of a question.

But one Saturday in fall, he came by the their usual place by the stairs with a new issue of Vogue Paris in hand, with him yet again on the cover photo, without her there. At first, he shrugged it off, knowing there are times he came first especially if it was busy in their bakery, so, he sat down and waited.

Two hours and one already-browsed-countless-of-times magazine, he decided she wouldn't be coming. With a dejected sigh, he went home and wondering whether he should call her or not.

He didn't get a blink of sleep that night, thoughts of Marinette kept invading his mind. Countless of not-appealing reasons came to mind on why she was not there yesterday. He groaned and laid down on his stomach, burying his face on the pillow. He was starting to sound like an obsessed friend and already feeling on edge just because of one failed afternoon. To make the matters worse, he didn't know why he was feeling this way. He reached for his phone and opened Marinette's chat box. He stared at it for a good five minutes before letting out a frustrated yell, he doesn't know why but he can't seem to form a proper sentence to inquire why she wasn't there yesterday. After typing and deleting, typing and deleting for another couple of minutes, he finally settled with a simple one.

" _Hey Marinette, I'm sorry, I wasn't able to come by yesterday, something came up."_

He put a pillow over his head and his legs fluctuating up and down in the air before rolling over, throwing the pillow across the room in the process. "Yes, Adrien, lie to her, that's a good one. Ugh, I'm such an idiot."

A ding from his phone took him out of pitiable regret of sending that message.

" _Oh, it's okay. I was not there yesterday. Something came up too."_

He pursed his lips at her vague reply. He quickly send a reply to her. _"Oh, okay. Anyway, how are you?"_

He grinned quite comically as he hit the send button at his "subtle" way of trying to know more what she was up to yesterday.

He was now up to his feet, pacing around his room, foot bare on the cold marble flooring. It was already half an hour and she still hasn't replied. Nathalie already knocked a couple of times indicating his breakfast is now ready. He was about to call her when he received her literally long-awaited reply.

" _I'm fine. Uh, I gotta go. See you later, Adrien."_

He was quite disappointed at that. _"Oh, bye. See you later, Marinette."_

He didn't received anything from her after that.

Monday came and there was a light spring on his feet and big smile on his as entered their homeroom, knowing that he will see her today, but his smile turned to frown when Marinette didn't came. He asked Alya, her best friend, if she know why was she not there today and she only gave a simple shake of her head and telling him she wasn't able to contact Marinette since Saturday night. He frowned at that, remembering he got a reply from her yesterday morning. He tried to ignore the worry and fear forming in the pit of his stomach as lunch came and decided to visit the bakery to inquire after Marinette just to see it close and will be close until further notice.

Friday came in a flash and tried as he not, he miss her dearly. He really did. Her company had always been the highlight of his week ever since they started meeting at Trocadéro. And when she suddenly took leave without much of an explanation, his life suddenly became dull and boring.

He didn't even realize just how much he enjoyed their meetings and her presence. Suddenly, his days felt empty and he couldn't figure out why is that so.

As it turned out, he only need his best friend and her best friend to knock some sense into him as they crossed the street from the Dupain-Cheng bakery to the café there.

"Look, I'm sure she's fine. She's with her parents, right?" Alya consoled, putting a hand on his shoulder to pat him. He turned to look at her but she can also see the worry for her best friend clearly on her face.

"Chill, dude. Don't be so down, Marinette's fine." Nino followed up, forcing Adrien to turn his back away from the window to stare longingly at the empty bakery. "You really _are_ down. Yeah, sure, you and Marinette had become closer these past few months, but I didn't know you'll be affected like this."

He did feel down, actually. He hasn't felt very jolly since last Sunday - since his last contact with her - he couldn't get rid of the feeling of wanting to see her. He didn't particularly want Nino and Alya to know about this though. He wanted to protect the sanctuary he made with Marinette, whether she knows it or not, so he just shrugged in reply. "Really, I hadn't noticed."

Alya scoffed, "Yeah, like we'll believe that. You're much worried about her than I am."

"Dude, we can see it all over your face, so out with it." Nino said, slurping his chocolate milkshake goodbye.

Adrien can see the expectant looks from them, his brow twitched in annoyance, and knowing full well he won't be getting out this that easy, he sighed. "It's nothing. Like you said, we've gotten closer, and she's not one not to say anything to Alya if she's going to take leave from school, right? That's all."

When he though he managed to get out of that impending interrogation, Alya smirked. "So, in short, you're missing Marinette?"

Adrien choked on his drink, face turning bright red, and without much of a thought, he quickly denied it. "I do not!"

And the two just look at him in disbelief over their rimmed glasses.

"Yeah, dude, keep telling yourself that."

"Seriously guys, I do not!"

"Then why, pray tell, Agreste, are you blushing?" Alya pointed out. He actually had to stop himself from snapping at them, because really it would just makes things even worse. He felt his face become hotter even with the air-conditioning and he was at lost as to why. He and Marinette had been mistaken as couple during their meetings multiple times before and it never affected him as it did now.

"I'd never thought I'd see the day Adrien Agreste will finally notice the opposite sex." Nino exclaimed dramatically, hands on his chest for extra theatrics and Alya laughed at him.

"Hey, I take offense in that!" Adrien cried out. "And there's nothing going on about me and Marinette, were just friends."

"But, I didn't say anything about _something_ going on between you two, I just merely said you missed her, or is there something you want to tell us, huh, Adrien?" Alya remarked and she just had to show him a shit-eating grin telling him that he just dug his own grave.

"What - I uh - never, but you said - Ugh!" He stuttered, earning a guffaw from the two.

"Oh my gosh! You're crushing on Marinette and you're in denial!" Alya exclaimed and Nino just continued on laughing at his friend's flushed face buried on his arms, as he plopped his head down the table.

It was - and he never thought he'd actually feel like this while talking about Marinette - embarrassing, to say at the least, to put the deep seated thoughts and feelings he never actually would have thought would surface for Marinette, into words somewhat put his heart into peace. To actually voice out loud, how often he checks his phone in the past five days waiting for her reply to his messages, glancing at their bakery as his car pass by and visiting Trocadéro every day after class hoping to see her there. He would see at their usual place for a few minutes wondering how utterly pathetic he'd been behaving and feeling weird that it was Marinette causing all this.

"What's wrong, dude? You spaced out on us. Don't worry, Marinette's a fine girl." Nino said, snapping Adrien out his reverie.

Alya raised an eyebrow at the oblivious sunshine child before him. Can't he see that he's acting like Marinette before their sudden closeness happened? The stuttering? The blushing, the spacing out with a love-struck smile plastered on? Marinette owed her big time for what she's about to do. "Level with me here, Agreste, and don't you dare lie to me. You're not dating anyone, you barely noticed girls before even if they bat their sickeningly thick eyelashes or throw themselves at you but then suddenly and honestly, I'm really curious how, and I know you and Mari have a secret you don't want Nino and I to know, and I kind of respected that, anyway - suddenly all your attention is on Mari. Maybe you haven't noticed it but we did and we still do. Marinette stopped being a mumbling mess and you kept on trying to get her attention, you like her don't you? As in like _like_ her?" Alya surmised, quite happy to see Adrien's face like a deer caught in a headlight.

It was shocking to hear from other people what he, apparently, been doing for the past six months. To hear it summarize in one full blown awakening, when he could barely acknowledge the feeling he has for Marinette. Up to this date, he thought he was just being a careful friend. One friend to the other. That the thought of having feelings for Marinette in _that_ way was preposterous.

He had a rebuttal on the tip of his tongue but Alya quickly cut him off again. "You keep thinking about her? Check. You miss her this much in five days? Check. Almost obsessed in wanting to see her again. Check. Trying to interject Marinette in every conversation we had since Monday? Check. Checking their house every lunch time and after class to see if she's home? Check. Don't even try to deny it, Agreste. You sound pretty _lovesick_ to me."

"You _are_ utterly pathetic lovesick, man." Nino finalized.

He could only moan in defeat. He had to realize his feelings for a girl because her best friend summarize everything to him and his best friend just delivered the final kill. He evolved from socially-awkward-homeschooled-boy to _utterly pathetic lovesick_. He didn't know which one was worse.

Still, he could no longer deny it. And when he acknowledge it, everything falls perfectly into place. He guessed, deep inside, deep _deep_ down inside him, he already knows it, but just too utterly stupid to realize it.

Dear Almighty Being above, he like _like_ Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

He didn't realize he said it out loud and failed to notice Alya and Nino fist-bumping at his realization.

He tried to be patient, really, but after almost a week (actually its six days, 4 hours, fifty-seven minutes and five seconds, but who's counting?) of not hearing from her, he just had to see her. So, with a speed of a cheetah he managed to take a shower and got dressed before rushing towards Trocadéro, hoping to see a midnight blue hair parted with two red hair ties into pigtails, sitting on the stairs and probably drawing.

With a huff and a puff, he arrived there just in time to see a certain girl arriving from the other side and clumsily throwing herself on the stair steps. He suddenly felt conscious; wiping his sweat with a handkerchief, fixing his hair and exhaling out loud, he walked towards her slowly but surely.

"Marinette?" Her eyes snapped open - which he just noticed - was closed.

"A-Adrien! I was hoping you'll came." She sheepishly smiled at him.

Adrien felt his heart stopped at her smile, he was glad to know that she was just fine but it still didn't quench his worries. "Are you okay? Where were you? How about your parents? Are they fine?" Sitting down beside her, closer than usual.

She giggled and he had to mentally scold his heart if that was even possible to stop jumping out of his ribcage. "Don't worry I am fine, _we're_ fine. It's just that - we, uh - we suddenly have to go China. My uh, my grandmother died, heart attack."

Silence fell between them and Marinette had to offer Adrien another smile to show him, she really was fine.

"Oh, uh, I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Thank you and I'm sorry if I wasn't able to say anything. We were in a rush and everything. Mama was so devastated and we have to get her back to China. Papa and I did everything we can to get a flight that Sunday night. But I, I read your messages."

Adrien stiffened a little, forgetting the fact he was messaging her like a maniac. When had she started occupying a big part of his life? The days without her has been maddening, making him restless, and causing him to lose sleep. He can't count the number of times his make-up artist complained on his photoshoots the previous week about his darkening day-by-day eye bags. He never knew that just a glimpse of her hair even from afar can bring him so much happiness and he never would have thought that staring at her this close could make his heart beat twice as much. What was Nino's term for him, again?

Oh yeah, utterly pathetic lovesick.

"I missed you." He blurted out, total opposite from what he was about to comment on her previous statement. "I - uh, I mean, I read my messages too. No! _Your_ messages, I read your messages too." Great, now he was the mumbling fool. He spared a glance at her and his heart soared at her blushing, stunned and mouth agape, but definitely blushing face. It gave him a boost in confidence and so is the fact that if he didn't say anything else, he might lose the chance to see her every day. "I mean - ", he cleared his throat, "I never really noticed how much I like seeing you until I couldn't." He confessed. "So, if it's alright to you -" he hesitated, "can we see each other? Every day, I mean. Here in Trocadéro."

She was still stunned, but after a moment of silence with Adrien, clearly on the edge of his seat, she cheekily smiled at him but still blushing heavily, "Just here?"

He chuckled lightly, scratching the back of his head due to his nervousness. "Uh well, other places too - like the park, the cafè, maybe the museum too?" He gave a small laugh. "Or we could watch a movie? Maybe shop a little bit in the mall, or -" he once again hesitated, " - maybe we could go to dinner?"

"Adrien Agreste," she began, looking at him expectantly with a small shy smile on her face. "Are you asking me out on a - date?"

He shrugged his shoulders, taking her hand and intertwining it with his own, hoping she wouldn't mind. "Several dates, actually."

She just flashed him that brightening smile he was starting to love. "I'd love that."

 **A/N:** I'd love to hear what you thought, please leave a review. ÷


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